Power-governor and clutch.



W. A. WOODWARD.

POWER GOVERNOR AND CLUTCH.

APPLICATION FILED IUNE 8.19l4.

UNITED s'rA'rEs g PATENT OFFICE;

POWER-GOVERNOR AND' CLUTCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 7, 1916.

Application filed J une 8, 14914. Serial No. 843,688.

To all "Lo/tom it may concern .Be itV known that I, VILLARD WOOD- y wann, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fairbanks, in the county of Whitman and State of lVashington, have invented anew and useful Power-Governor andClutch, of which the following 1s a specification;

My invention relates to improvements in power drive wheels in which the power from the band wheel is automatically applied to or released from the load by the speed of the wheel, and the objects of my invention are Ato 'provide a simple and positive means for applying or releasing the power applied. to power driven machinery, such as the feed mechanism of a threshingl machine, both automaticallyand manually. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in Which Figure 1 is a view showing the construction of the inner side 'of the band wheel; Fig. 2 is a diametrical cross-section of my device complete; Fig. 3 is a view of the construction of the outer side of the band wheel; Fig. 4 is a side view of my device complete; Fig. 5 is a detail view of the lever operating the clutch.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views. i

Referring t'o the drawing, 1 is a power or drive shaft on which is mounted a disk 2 having a cylindrical sleeve 3 inclosing the shaft 1, and a -flange 4. On the cylindrical sleeve 3 is mounted a drive ,or band Wheel 5 so that the spokes of the wheel revolve near to the disk 2. Attached to the spokes 6 6 of the wheel 5 on the side next to the disk 2 by pivots 7 7 are the segments 8 8 on which are mounted .adjustable weights 9 9. lAttached to the pivotal sleeves 10 10 of the segments 8 8 are lugs 11 11, to which are attached friction bands 12 12,the ends of the bands 12 12 having threaded projections 13 13 passing through holes 'in the lugs -`11 11, and adjustably attached thereto by nuts 14 14. -The other ends of the friction bands 12 12 are attached to the Wheel 5 vnear the fla-nge 4 of the disk 2, as at 15 15. It is apparent from this construction that the centrifugal force of the wheel 5 when in motion will be communicated to the segments 8 8, thereby' throwing them outward from the center, 'thus causing the lugs 11 11 I totl draw the friction bands 12"-12 down inf contact with' the flange v4 with sulicient force to cause the wheelA 5 and the disk 2 to revolve as a unit. The rate of speed at which this occurs can be regulated by adjusting the weights 9 9 on the segments 8 8 and increasing or diminishing the tension on the springs S S connecting the ends of the segments 8 8 with the wheel 5. To apply the power socommunicated to the disk 2 by the band wheel 5, to the shaft 1, a gland 1G is solidly mounted on the shaft 1 by a sleeve 17. On the gland 1G are slidablymounted blocks 18 18, the

outer .faces of which are curved t'o confornr' to the inner face of .the flange 4, Slidabwz mounted upon the sleeve 17 of the glandf is a `sleeve 19, to which is attached alever 20, the sleeve 19 and the blocks 18 l8"be ing connected by bars 21 21, each pivoted at one end to the sleeve and at the other end to a block. The blocks 18.-'-18 are connected by springs 22 22, which are only of suiiicient st rength to hold the blocks 18 18 away from the disk 4 when power is not desired. y It will be understood ,thaltwhen the blocks 18 1S are moved into' contact with the fia-nge 4, the power A.communicated to the liange 4 by theband wheel 5'will be communicated to the. shaft 1 so long as the speed of the, band` wheel 5 is such as to exert the-.requisite centrifugal force on the segments 8 8 to bind the friction bands 12 12 onto the face of the {iange 4. Thus the power applied to the shaft 1 is automat` ically controlled by the speed of the wheel 5, and also manually by the lever 20, giving a wide range of control, which is very useful in various forms of power driven machinery. For instance, the automatic device is designed to control the feed mechanism of a threshing machine when the speed of the engine varies. When the speed of the engine is sufficiently high to properly take care of the grain as fed, the automatic device serves to connect the power to the feed, but should the speed of the engine drop so that the material fed cannot be taken care of by the machine, then the feed mechanism is automatically cut off until such time as the speed rises to the proper point. Up to this point, the automatic mechanism Works independently of everything else, and accomplishesv a result of its own. 'But 'if a break should occur in some other 'part of the mechanism of the threshing machine, necessitating the stopping' of the feed control at once, before the speed falls to such a point that the automatic device will cut it out, the manually operatedor controlled device is thrown oil' at once. lVithout a manually ope"ated cut ofi', the feed mechanism, under said circumstances, will usually continue to operate long enough before stopped by the automatic mechanism, to jam the cylinder and the rest of the machine to such a point as to clog the entire machine.

The above is given as a preferred embodiment of my invention, although changes may be made in details of construction.

Having thus fully described myY invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. The combination of' a power shaft, a disk and a drive wheel revolubly mounted on the shaft', automatic means to apply the power from the drive wheel to the disk, and manually controlled means to apply and release the power from the disk to and from the shaft.

2. The combination of a power shaft, a disk provided with a flange revolubly mounted on the shaft by a cylindrical sleeve, a power wheel revolubly mounted upon the sleeve of the disk, centrifugal means to apply the power from the wheel to the disk, and manual means to apply the power from the flange to the shaft.

3. The combination of a power shaft, a drive wheel and a disk provided with n flange revolubly mounted on the shaft, automatic means to apply the power from the wheel to the disk, and means t'o apply the power from the disk to the shaft, consisting of a gland solidly attached to the shaft, blocks slidably attached to the gland. having convex faces adapted to bear upon the inner face of the flange, a sleeve slidably mounted upon the shaft, bars pivoted at each end connet-ting,r the sleeve with the blocks, and manual means to slide the sleeve and mm'e the blocks in to and out of Contact with the flange.

VILLARD A. VVOODVARD.

Witnesses:

C. I. LANG, G. J. Bowxmx. 

